Irish
County Mayo Tartans & Clan
Who Wears County Mayo Tartan? - Associated Names
First of all to explain why there are so many tartans, way over 2000 in fact. There are an awful lot of Scottish clans to start with and on top of this each clan can have many different tartans and names associated with it.
- Bannon
- Bodkin
- Branagan
- Brohan
- Clery
- Connellan
- Connolly
- Cooney
- Coughlin
- Creagh
- Dolan
- Dorcey
- Dugan
- Finn
- Gannon
- Gavagan
- Gavan
- Gearan
- Geraghty
- Gorman
- Jordan
- Kearns
- Kearny
- Kerrigan
- Killeen
- Larrissey
- Lavell
- Lawless
- Loftus
- McAndrew
- McAvealy
- McGarry
- McGibbon
- McHale
- McNally
- McPhillips
- Mulrenin
- Mulroy
- Murray
- O'Bierne
- O'Callaghan
- O'Dowd
- O'Duffy
- O'Flannery
- O'Flynn
- O'Loughnan
- O'Malley
- O'Moran
- O'Quigley
- Petit
- Prendergast
- Philbin
- Ronan
- Staunton
- Tolleran
- Tierney
County Mayo Tartans
1 variationsEach tartan can have multiple variations, the most common of which are Ancient, Modern, Weathered, Hunting and Dress
About tartan variations
- Ancient
- Modern
- Weathered
- Hunting
- Dress
Ancient Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans, mossy greens and sky blues, a more orangey red and some would say showing off the pattern to much greater effect as as the contrasts are much brighter than the Modern tartans. The pattern or sett remains the same across all variations of a single tartan, and only the shades or tones vary.
Helpful Advice
Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
Modern Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer colours typical of the Ancient tartans. Post 1860 chemical dyes replaced the natural animal and vegetable dyes and the Modern Tartans were born with their stronger and bolder colours. The soft greens and blues become bottle green and navy blue, reds are scarlet.
Helpful Advice
The Modern tartans are often the more subtle combinations such as the classic Black Watch Modern
Weathered Tartan
Before 1860 fabrics were coloured using animal and vegetable dyes. This produced the softer, more earthy colours typical of the Weathered tartans, reminiscent of bolder colours subjected to wind, rain and sunshine producing beautiful faded tones, olive greens and browns, and very light blues with reds that are more pink than red.
Helpful Advice
Some mills refer to the Weathered tartans as Muted.
Hunting Tartan
The Hunting Tartans are the camouflage tartans and some clans don't have these variations because they are already predominantly green or brown and don't need amendment to blend in with nature's colours. The Black Watch or Gunn tartans are examples of these, whereas a tartan such as the Fraser is predominantly red and would not provide much cover for men out hunting.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
Dress Tartan
The Dress Tartans were designed as the name suggests for celebrations and highland dance. The sett or pattern of the tartan remains the same and the main colour is changed to white, or extra white is added to the pattern to give it a brighter, more "fancy" appearance. The Scots do like to bend the rules and occasionally instead of white thread, yellow is used and this is where the rather wild MacLeod Dress Modern and Barclay Dress Modern came from.
Helpful Advice
One thing to remember if you are ordering your tartan to match an existing kilt or accessory is that although the sett and colours are the same, there can be a slight difference in colour from one mill to the next. This is purely down to yarn dying so if you need an exact match we suggest you order a swatch to double check.
From the Start
County Mayo Clan Origins & History
Explore the History
How it all started
County Mayo is found in the province of Connacht in the West of Ireland, travelling along the Atlantic coast. The region has a wide range of scenery from rich green forestry to rocky jagged sea cliffs, with Clew Bay being dotted with small but steep islands including the island of Clare. The county is filled with archaeological heritage, with the first people arriving in Ireland before 7000 BCE believed to have settled in this area during the Mesolithic period. The region is believed to be inhabited throughout the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and into the time when Christianity arrived in Ireland around the 5th century AD. During the 12th century, Mayo came under Norman control which led to the fall of many Gaelic lords and chieftains, mainly from the O'Connor dynasty. The most dominant clan emerging from this period was the Burkes who continued their dynastic power throughout the following centuries.
What's in the plaid?
The County Mayo plaid is mainly dark green with orange, yellow and blue accents running throughout.
Rockfleet Castle
Rockfleet Castle is found in a small inlet on the shores of Clew Bay, and is a small square defence tower house which was built in the mid 16th century. It was the house of the Pirate Queen Grace O'Malley who was the chief of the O'Malley dynasty and ruled over the majority of the western coast of Ireland in the late 16th century. She had a large fleet of ships which docked at the castle which she used to raid numerous cargos across the channel! She stayed at the castle until after the death of her husband Richard Burke, but closely afterwards the stronghold was seized by the English along with such of the O'Malley fleet under Queen Elizabeth I's reign. Grace later died in 1603 when she was buried on Clare Island nearby. Today, the castle is open to the public and when you can walk in the footsteps of the Irish Queen!
The name Mayo comes fro the Irish "Mhaigh Eo", which means 'plain of the yew trees'.
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